Ex-Planning Chief Suffering After Losing His Job in Sex Case

Names, names, names.

* Robert Spaulding, the ex-San Diego planning director who resigned under pressure in the City Hall sex scandal, continues to experience tough times.

Turned down repeatedly for planning jobs out of state, often without even getting an interview. Surviving on savings and unemployment insurance.

He’s said to be thinking of forfeiting the equity in his home in Point Loma (it’s been for sale without success) and just moving away for a fresh start.

“He is in desperate, desperate shape,” said his attorney, Michael Aguirre. “He’s truly in the valley of existence.”

On Tuesday, a judge will hear a motion by the city of San Diego in Spaulding’s lawsuit claiming malpractice by City Atty. John Witt in his handling of the sex case. The city wants the suit thrown out without a trial.

* Magic Johnson has been invited to a benefit here next Sunday for children with AIDS. No confirmation, but organizers are hopeful.

* Sarah Weddington, the winning attorney in the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, comes to San Diego on Friday for a speech sponsored by the Lawyers Club: “Is Time Running Out for Roe vs. Wade?”

* Miguel Perez Torres, 22, was driving his car in San Diego when members of law enforcement indicated an interest in discussing his involvement (if any) with controlled substances.

According to court records, Torres opted not to have such a discussion and instead drove his car 90 m.p.h. on University Avenue to the freeway.

Then out to Interstate 15, where his speed exceeded 100 m.p.h. A tire blew out. Torres continued driving on the rim, police say.

The rim flew off. Torres continued driving on the brake drum, slowing to a mere 60 m.p.h. Off the freeway at Gopher Canyon Road, down Old Highway 395, when his vehicle finally boiled over and stopped, police say.

Now Torres faces felony charges of evading arrest.

And the car that proved so durable during this near 50-mile chase?

That venerable Chrysler product, a 1978 Dodge Aspen. Would Lee Iacocca be proud, or what?

Fun Place to Meet Bad Drivers

Signs of modern life.

* Yes, there is a traffic school in San Diego that caters to gay drivers who’ve gotten tickets.

It’s called “Finally, a Gay Traffic School,” and meets at the Gay Community Center.

“Too many traffic schools use gay jokes,” explains a spokeswoman. “This way we can make our own jokes.”

There are similar schools in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.

* The standoff over condom vending machines continues at San Diego State University.

Students have given President Thomas Day a week to drop his opposition or they’ll put in the machines themselves. If so, Day says he’ll have them removed.

* Tattoo parlors in downtown San Diego now have signs: “We Sterilize and Dispose of Our Needles.”

* A front-page story in the New York Times about cuts in higher education in California has a picture of a graffiti-ized fence at San Diego State.

The fence has rows of painted white crosses and the slogan “Cemetary of Dead Classes.” A class in spelling was among those axed, apparently.

* The switchboard at the Hotel del Coronado was swamped with calls for Anita Hill during her brief stay for a speech. Sorry, she left orders: no calls.

Looking for a Tip

On Saturday night of the long Memorial Day weekend, Sally Diana Gagne went out to do some socializing.

She was 53, worked as a Hallmark store manager at Plaza Bonita and lived in Imperial Beach.

About closing time, she was spotted at Ye Olde Plank Inn, a pinball-and-beer joint within walking distance of the beach. Five hours later she was found stabbed to death and buried in the sand of nearby Camp Surf Beach on the Silver Strand.

The Sheriff’s Department has chased a few leads but without success.

Now, in a final attempt to shake some information loose, Gagne’s two sons have offered a $2,500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

Starting tonight through Dec. 1, a Crime Stoppers video on television will re-enact Gagne’s final hours.

An additional $1,000 awaits anyone who provides information on the 235-TIPS line that leads to an arrest.